Recent News

• We have an opening for 1 graduate student positions in spring 2010 or fall 2010. Please see here for further detials.

Research Areas

Our research are centered on the development of detectors and instrumentations for radiation detection and measurements. In particular, we are developing several key enabling technologies for future nuclear imaging instrumentations that offer much improved performance and allow nuclear imaging modalities to be combined with other imaging modalities, such as MRI. Several on-going research projects are outlined below.

Ultrahigh Resolution Gamma-Ray Imaging Sensors

We are currently developing an ultrahigh resolution scintillation gamera based on the intensified electron-mutiplying charge-coupled devices (I-EMCCD) and a novel energy-resolved photon-counting (ERPC) detector that combines compound semiconductors and advanced readout electronics. These detectors offer a large detection area, an ultrahigh intrinsic resolution and an excellent energy resolution, which could be used in a wide range of applications, such as SPECT, PET, CT etc.

Ultrahigh Resolution SPECTs

Over the past few years, we have developed an ultrahigh resolution single photon emission microscope system dedicated for mouse brain studies. This syste uses focused sphreical multiple pinhole apertures that allow SPECT imaging with spatial resolutions of 100-300 microns using I-125, Tc-99m labled radiotracers. This system is currently being evaluated for in vivo tracking radiolabeled cells in lab animals.

Combined Nuclear/MR/CT Imaging Systems

We are currently developing a compact SPECT system that can be placed inside an existign MRI scanner for simutious, dual-modality imaging studies. This system is based on the use of the ERPC detectors, specially tailored for operation in strong magnetic field.

A Sub-500um Resolution PET Detector based on Pixelated CdZnTe Detectors

We are collabrating with researchers at the Washington Unversity in St. Louis on the development of an ultrahigh resolution PET detector that is aimed at an intrinsic resolution of <500 um for 511 keV gamma rays. This detector is based on CZT or CdTe detectors with 350 um x 350 um square pixels, readout with a modified version of the ERPC ASIC.

Synchrotron X-ray Fluorescence Emission Tomography (XFET)

This project involves the development of a CCD-based detection system for mapping the 3-D distribution of trace metals inside volumetric samples with an superb sensitivity. The particular approach that we are evaluating allows 1-2 orders of magnitude improvement in imaging speed over the conventional mechincal scanning method. The hugely improved imaging speed would allow a greater throughut for XFCT studies and help to make this emerging imaging modality a more prctical tool for a wide range of applications.

Representative Publications

L. J. Meng, G. Fu, E. J. Roy, B. Suppe, and C. T. Chen, “An Ultrahigh Resolution SPECT System for I-125 Mouse Brain Imaging Studies”, to appear in Nucl. Instru. Methods, 2008.
L. J. Meng and N. Li, “A Vector Uniform Cramer-Rao Bound for SPECT System Design”, to appear in IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 2008.
L. J. Meng and G. Fu, “Investigation of the Intrinsic Spatial Resolution of an Intensified EMCCD Scintillation Camera”, to appear in IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 2008.
L. J. Meng, "An intensified EMCCD camera for low energy gamma ray imaging applications," IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., vol. 53, pp. 2376-2384, 2006.
L. J. Meng, N. H. Clinthorne, S. Skinner, R. V. Hay, and M. Gross, "Design and feasibility study of a single photon emission microscope system for small animal I-125 imaging," IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., vol. 53, pp. 1168-1178, 2006.
L. J. Meng, Z. He, B. Alexander, and J. Sandoval, "Spectroscopic performance of thick HgI2 detectors," IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., vol. 53, pp. 1706-1712, 2006.
L. J. Meng and Z. He, “Exploring the Limiting Timing Resolution for Large Volume CZT Detectors with Waveform Analysis”, Nuclear Instruments and Methods A, vol. 550, pp435-445, 2005.